Later this month, the 2024 Ballon d’Or will be awarded by France Football.
Everything suggests that Vinicius Junior will win it for the first time ever, and Real Madrid also expect that to be the case.
Not everyone believes Vinicius would be the deserved winner. In fact, his former teammate Joselu Mato would prefer to see it awarded to Dani Carvajal, as he recently told EFE (via MD).
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“I would give it to Carvajal. We are talking about a player who played everything last year, who won the same club titles as Vini, who I appreciate and love a lot as a teammate, but I think Dani finished the season as the best player in the Champions League final and won a European Championship in which he was very important.
“At the end of the day, the credit is not given to a defender because he is more of a protagonist who scores goals or makes assists, but we saw Dani as a goalscorer, who scored and made assists, who was important, who played incredible matches. He is a serious candidate to be able to recruit him because it has been a long time since we have seen a player in these conditions and the titles won last year in defense would allow him to win the Ballon d’Or. »
Joselu was only teammates with Vinicius and Carvajal for one season, although it was a memorable season. He joined Al-Gharafa this summer, although he still sees himself at Real Madrid.
“From day one, they treated me like one of their own. To feel that in the best club in the world, from the president, from the coach, from your world-class teammates… Putting on the jersey and playing in this stadium is something different from anything you can imagine in a lifetime.
“I don’t regret the decision I made because I think that in life, the decisions you make should never be regretted, but it’s true that watching Real Madrid, I have the feeling of having been there. I was lucky enough to experience moments equal to or better than those they are experiencing now. »
